Criminal charges against Chalabi 'dropped'

Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi has said that counterfeiting charges against him have been dropped.

01 Sep 2004 16:17 GMT

An arrest warrant was issued against Ahmad Chalabi in August

Chalabi on Wednesday said an Iraqi judge had informed him to this effect.

A former US ally, Chalabi also told reporters that an arrest warrant for his nephew Salim Chalabi, who was supervising Saddam Hussein's trial, had been reduced to a summons and he would return to Iraq to face it. Salim Chalabi was accused of murder.

Ahmad Chalabi was speaking hours after an armed group opened fire on his convoy as he returned to Baghdad from the southern city of Najaf. He escaped injury but two aides were wounded.

Denial

Both men have denied the charges against them and said they were politically motivated.

The charge against Salim Chalabi raised questions about the fate and credibility of Hussein's trial.

After falling out with Washington, the elder Chalabi has tried to project himself as a popular Shia leader ahead of Iraq's landmark elections in January.

An Iraqi judge issued the warrant against Ahmad Chalabi in August, accusing him of a complex counterfeiting scheme involving old Iraqi dinars. Since the warrant was issued, however, Iraqi authorities had declined to act on it.